College baseball: Former Boston College captain honored with Pete Frates Day

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh will honor former Boston College baseball captain Pete Frates for his courage and dedication to ALS research and awareness at a public rally at City Hall Plaza in Boston on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017 at 2 p.m.

As a symbol of courage and determination, I am proud to proclaim September 5, 2017, Pete Frates Day in the City of Boston. pic.twitter.com/AIQRmdfJ4N

The event coincides with the day's release of the new book "The Ice Bucket Challenge: Pete Frates and the Fight against ALS," written by New York Times best-selling author Casey Sherman and acclaimed journalist Dave Wedge. Fifty percent of the book proceeds will go directly to Frates and his family.

Along with Frates and his family, the BC baseball team will be in attendance at City Hall. Members of the BC spirit squad and marching band will also be on hand representing the Eagles.

Mayor Walsh will read a proclamation declaring Pete Frates Day in the city of Boston. Boston Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy, Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner, along with Sherman and Wedge, will be part of the celebration.

Frates was the catalyst behind the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which has raised more than $220 million for ALS research since 2014. It is considered the greatest social media charity campaign in history. In the spring of 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that treatments were approved to slow down the progression of ALS, showing the direct impact of the social media campaign.

The former Eagle was presented with the 2017 NCAA Inspiration Award in December 2016 and the following spring, the bucket he used for his own Ice Bucket Challenge at Fenway Park that fateful summer, along with memorabilia from his playing days at Boston College, were donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.